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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627311">Surviving the New World Together</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingFreak/pseuds/LaughingFreak'>LaughingFreak</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Indefinite Hiatus/Discontinued Indefinitely [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amorality, Bisexuality, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Depression, F/M, Gen, Hiatus, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Self-Harm, Slurs, Suicidal Thoughts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:00:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627311</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingFreak/pseuds/LaughingFreak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Siblings find themselves at the prison while they were doing a run after a herd finds them and meet Rick and the group. There's wariness and they find themselves merging groups. There's complications because people are people, but it brings a togetherness that helps their numbers and helps them survive.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Indefinite Hiatus/Discontinued Indefinitely [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097825</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is not a fic I plan on finishing, but I have written a prologue and a chapter and half of it and decided to post it regardless. If you don't want to read it because of that then that's okay, I definitely get it. I might go back to it someday, but that's not a guarantee. If you do read this I hope you like what little I have of it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The groans of the walkers followed behind the three as they ran further and further into the woods. They jumped over protruding branches sticking from the ground and ducked under others still attached to trees. There was only an hour or so left of sunlight, barely a enough time to find shelter in the safety of the daylight hours.</p>
<p>“Abbie, watch out!”</p>
<p>Said person maneuvered away in time of an oncoming bite and cleaved the walker on the head with one of her two hatchets. As fast as she reacted to attacking she was also quick to start running again with the other two.</p>
<p>“Tyler! Abbie! I think I see a building!”</p>
<p>The three got closer as they ran harder, looking back every now and then to make sure there was distance between them and the walkers. When the building was in front of them they found a hill of rubble and debris and a huge hole high above the mess. A fence surrounded the brick fortress with the exception of the destroyed part before them beneath the rubble. Tyler it in then turned to look at the two females. He didn’t have to say anything, the two knew.</p>
<p>The youngest of the three holstered her machete and climbed quickly and quietly over the rubble, followed by Abbie and then Tyler. The male ushered the two girls quickly, keeping his voice down. They didn’t know how this place was on the inside, but it’d be easier to clean it out enough to stay in than trying their luck outside. Besides, from what they could tell it was well fortified and they’d at least be safe in here.</p>
<p>They got inside and looked around once on even ground. One of the girls took out a flashlight and flashed it across the room. It was a cell block. Empty, but reeking of blood.</p>
<p>“You two search for something that could be used to have a small shelter. I’ll see if anything needs to get cleaned out,” he ordered, taking out his own flashlight.</p>
<p>As the three searched the cell block the sun got lower and lower until there was no light from the outside.</p>
<p>They found very little, but they did find a couple mattresses that were as decently clean as they could get in this place and dragged them to a cell. One mattress was set next to the far wall of the cell on the floor while the other one was used as a barrier along with whatever they could use as a blockade for the entrance. As they looked around they heard, if they listened closely enough, the shuffling and groans of the dead. The walkers weren’t too close, but they were in the area.</p>
<p>“I’ll keep first watch,” said Tyler, sitting on the edge of the mattress.</p>
<p>The girls nod and lay down behind him on the mattress, cuddled up, with their bags and weapons in reaching distance.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rick walked down the halls of block D, knife at the ready, wondering if there was a way to clear it out for extra space. It was something he thought they were going to need. If they could get the whole prison fixed up they could have different blocks be different things: for educating, recreation, spare lodgings. Something good. To distract them from the bad for a little bit.</p>
<p>Daryl was behind him and they both turned to the groan that sounded and took out the walker. There was a few more they took out before they continued on their way. It was a few feet before they reached the door into the cell block when they heard talking. And it wasn’t voices of their people; it was strangers in their prison, in their home.</p>
<p>Both men looked at each other and Rick brought his gun out. They wait a moment until they hear someone come close enough then burst open the door. Rick pins the person to the wall with the gun pointing to their head while Daryl had his crossbow aimed and ready at the other two people in the room.</p>
<p>It was tense between the two parties, but it was a shock to the two men. They were kids, two girls and a boy. One girl looked no older than Carl, maybe fourteen, and the other looked just shy of eighteen. The boy was barely over twenty-one, by the looks of it. But they were kids and by themselves, which meant that they survived with only each other. And as much as Rick wanted to go easy on them for being young, he knew it would be foolish.</p>
<p>“Who are you?” asked Rick to the young man.</p>
<p>The young man’s eyes darted to the girls and he pursed his lips.</p>
<p>“Get off him!” ordered the oldest girl, her rifle trained on Rick, blue eyes narrowed. She wore leggings as pants with a plain t-shirt a size too big with a deep v-neck, a stripped tank top underneath, and a dark denim jacket over them. There was a green silk scarf with flowers patterned around her neck and ankle boots at her feet. Her dirty blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail on the crown of her head, stray strands falling on the side of her face.</p>
<p>The other girl was small with the same colored hair and eyes, but wore her hair down and just past her shoulders. Her clothes are just as rumpled as everyone’s gets in this world, with her overly large red and black plaid button down that almost went to her knees and dirty skinny jeans. The girl also wore boots like the oldest girl’s and had a bandana sticking out of large hoodie pocket. Her handgun was aimed at Daryl.</p>
<p>The boy only had jeans on, blue and black plaid shirt lying crumpled on the floor next to his feet, and a pair of boots on his feet as well. His hair and eyes were the same color as the girls’, hair shaggy but partly pulled back in a ponytail to keep the hair out of his face. He had a knife in his hand, aimed and ready, at Rick’s kidney.</p>
<p>From their features you can tell that they were siblings and the way they acted they were quick on the draw and in sync.</p>
<p>A bullet skims past Rick’s knees, barely avoiding contact all together. Daryl whipped his crossbow to the oldest girl with a growl. “I said, get off him,” she ordered. “That was a warning shot, just so you know.”</p>
<p>“Put the gun down!” growled Daryl.</p>
<p>Flower scarf lifted her chin defiantly. “Make me,” she challenged.</p>
<p>Rick looks at the boy in his hold, glances down at the knife, then back to his face. He was looking straight into Rick’s eyes, debating with himself. Rick was calculating whether or not they could get away without fatal injuries if push came to shove.</p>
<p>“We’re just passing through. We’ll leave if you want us to,” said the boy in a strong voice that belied little to no fear.</p>
<p>“How do we know you won’t come back?” Rick asked.</p>
<p>The younger man exhaled through his nose and answered, “Because it’s not safe to stay in one place long.” He glanced at the gun that was pointed to his head. “And you can’t trust people, but you can trust biters. I’d rather deal with biters than stay around people for too long.”</p>
<p>The knife never left its threat at Rick’s kidney.</p>
<p>But the look in the boy’s eyes was so much the truth that it felt like a punch in the face. That look was harsh and untrusting, unyielding and strong, and Rick saw that it was nothing but truth that the boy spoke. These kids had been through a lot and not just with the walkers, or biters as the three called them, but also with people.</p>
<p>Rick glanced at Daryl, then back at the young man. “Do you work for the Governor?”</p>
<p>The boy narrowed his eyes. “I work for no one. And neither do my sisters.”</p>
<p>“Will you harm my people?” asked the former sheriff.</p>
<p>“Not unless you harm us first,” was the answer he gave.</p>
<p>The two stared at each for a moment, sizing the other up and keeping their weapons where they were, before Rick let the young man go and stepped back a foot. Daryl reluctantly lowered his crossbow and the two girls did the same.</p>
<p>As much as Rick thought the three could be dangerous they were still kids. Granted, the young man was about Glenn’s age at least and the older girl near Beth’s, but they were still kids. They didn’t work for the Governor, probably didn’t know who he was, and they needed shelter. He will offer that to them for as long they wanted as long as they harmed none of his family.</p>
<p>“What are your names?” Rick asked.</p>
<p>The young man leant over to grab his shirt and put it on. As he buttoned it he said, “Tyler Bones. The oldest girl is my sister Abbie and the youngest is Macy.”</p>
<p>Rick nodded. “I’m Rick Grimes.” He pointed to Daryl. “That’s Daryl.”</p>
<p>Tyler whipped his head up from his buttons and looked at the bowsman. “Is your last name Dixon?”</p>
<p>Daryl narrowed his eyes and tensed up. “Why?”</p>
<p>Abbie looked from her brother to the redneck, her lips pursed, and stepped towards her brother. Macy followed. “Are you Merle’s brother?”</p>
<p>Daryl was all kinds of tensed up and ready to spring. The fact that they knew who he was, and his brother, had him on edge. Anybody that knew Merle was usually bad news or a pain in the ass. “How do you know Merle?” he growled, stepping forward into their faces.</p>
<p>Tyler stepped forward, in front his sisters, and took Daryl’s aggression in stride. “He was in our group. We haven’t seen him since he led this guy and his men away from us. We’ve been trying to find him since. Tracked him for a while until it went cold.”</p>
<p>Abbie worried her lip. “His family is worried. We’re worried.”</p>
<p>That sent Daryl reeling and even Rick was thrown for a loop. Okay, they needed to get information and talk. Obviously this was more than they bargained for. They certainly didn’t expect anything that was coming out of these kids’ mouths at the moment.</p>
<p>The former sheriff took a breath and gathered himself.  “How about we go to my people and we talk?”</p>
<p>The siblings looked at each other. “Let us grab our things.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they reached the cell block that Rick and the others stayed at an older woman gave the three siblings some food. The whole way there Daryl watched them. Even when they were seated and eating the hunter watched them intently. It made the three tense, but they said nothing.</p>
<p>The prison’s group began to straggle in, Rick having called them for a meeting to discuss the visitors. The visitors watched the group gather around and stare at them. The youngest boy with the sheriff hat looked at Macy with a little surprise at seeing someone his age after so long.</p>
<p>Everyone gathered and sat around at tables or stood, most if not all of them carried a weapon of some sort. The three at least knew that these people were capable, just like their own, but not evil like the ones they’ve ran into so many times before. It was a nice change, but not something they fully trusted. They had one person in their group that was good, but the new world got to them. He grew dark and unhinged and he wouldn’t come back.</p>
<p>They had put him down and feed him to the biters.</p>
<p>Introductions were had and then they went down to business.</p>
<p>“How long have you been searching for Merle?” asked Rick, starting them off. Some people stiffened at the name.</p>
<p>Abbie spoke. “Too long. Months, I think.”</p>
<p>“By yourselves?” Carol asked incredulously. To her, they were just children no matter how hardened.</p>
<p>“We have little choice. Our group needs to protect what we got and we would keep moving like usual, but we won’t leave Merle behind. Besides, we couldn’t if we wanted to. His family would stay and they have kids.” Abbie sounded reluctant to give this information.</p>
<p>Daryl startled. Did Merle have kids?</p>
<p>The prison group looked at each other at this information.</p>
<p>Tyler rubbed his face. “Look, do you know where he is or not? If you don’t then we need to keep moving. It’s getting colder and winter is setting in. We can only look for so long before we have to stop.”</p>
<p>It was quiet as everybody thought. The group didn’t know where Merle was. If they did then Daryl probably wouldn’t be here at all. They knew that blood was important to Daryl because it was banged into his head so much by his brother that he believed it. Not that it wasn’t important, but the hunter had a family here too and they didn’t want to lose him.</p>
<p>That was when Michonne spoke up for the first time since the meeting started. “He’s with the Governor.”</p>
<p>Macy looked at her. “Who is this Governor?”</p>
<p>“Does he have military grade weapons?” Abbie quickly asked as she leaned forward.</p>
<p>Everybody turned to Michonne. They knew Andrea was there, but they didn’t know about the other Dixon brother.</p>
<p>“The Governor is a man you don’t want to go anywhere near. He’s not right in the head.” She looked at Abbie. “Yes, he does.”</p>
<p>Macy looked at her brother, lips pursed. “Do you think that’s who Merle took off our trail?”</p>
<p>Abbie bit her lip and mumbled, “Has to be.”</p>
<p>Their older brother straightened. “Does he know about you guys? The prison?”</p>
<p>Maggie looked at her husband worriedly. “We don’t think so,” he answered slowly.</p>
<p>“It’s only a matter of time before he does then,” Tyler murmured.</p>
<p>Rick watched the three intently as they sat in thought. Just like that there was tension with the siblings. Everyone watched the visitors cautiously. It was like they expected them to have a meltdown. Instead they began whispering with each other so no one could hear their conversation.</p>
<p>Tyler stood and faced Rick with a sigh. “Rick, are you willing to kill this man and his people?”</p>
<p>The tension rose and Rick narrowed his eyes dangerously as he stepped towards the younger man. “We don’t kill people,” he growled.</p>
<p>The younger man didn’t even flinch, just lifted his chin. “Then you might want to get on the move. If you’re not willing to kill to keep what you want to protect safe, then you got to move on away from here.”</p>
<p>Rick didn’t like what he was saying, but neither did his wife. Lori stepped forward, holding Judith, but stayed out of reach of the guests. “And go where? We’re safe here. This is our home. And I refuse to go on the run with my baby,” she said angrily.</p>
<p>“If you agree to help us get Merle, then we’ll take you with us to our group. We’ll probably stay where we are now until winter is over then move on. We have the room,” Tyler negotiated calmly.</p>
<p>Daryl was all for it. He watched the kid in fascination. He was young, but knew how to take charge. He knew the kid had soft spots, just by watching him with his sisters he knew that. The kid smiled at them like they were his world and always kept them close to him. From what the hunter could tell Tyler was passionate and there was a fire in him that he felt drawn to.</p>
<p>But he also noticed that he was willing to make the hard choices and do what needed to be done.  From that one question he asked Rick Daryl knew Tyler had blood on his hands and it wasn’t just walker blood. It didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would, but it could be because he knew in his gut that the kid did it when there was no other choice.</p>
<p>The youngest Macy was quiet, but seemed observant. He didn’t know much to make of her except that she has hardened in the same sort of way that Carl has. Things had happened to that girl and he knew by her eyes that she was not the same. Abbie was protective, but just as hard, if only in a different way. She seemed more haunted than her older brother, but less broken than her little sister. </p>
<p>Both girls also seemed to have blood on their hands like their brother and had issues of their own. Luckily, it seemed the issues wouldn’t be harmful to the safety of their group.</p>
<p>The prison group looked to Rick. Lori stood next to her husband, glaring at the siblings as she held Judith close.</p>
<p>Daryl was all for the agreement. He wanted his brother back and he was curious about the group, wondering if it was safer with them than here. It would probably be better in the long run even.</p>
<p>After several minutes Rick made eye contact with Tyler. “Okay, how do you want to do this?”</p>
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